 Wilder yells during a 2018 regular season game | |||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1992-04-14)April 14, 1992 (age 33) Tampa, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 232 lb (105 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Henry B. Plant (Tampa) | ||||||||||||
| College | Florida State | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2014: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
| Career CFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Stats atPro Football Reference  | |||||||||||||
James Curtis Wilder Jr. (born April 14, 1992) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back for five seasons in theCanadian Football League (CFL) with theToronto Argonauts andEdmonton Elks, winning theGrey Cup in 2017 and theCFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award for 2017. Wilder playedcollege football for theFlorida State Seminoles, where he was part of the team that won the2014 BCS National Championship Game. He was also a member of theCincinnati Bengals,Buffalo Bills, andMontreal Alouettes but did not appear in any games for those teams.
He attendedHenry B. Plant High School inTampa, Florida. Wilder was considered the No. 1 athlete recruit in the nation in his class byRivals.com.
In 2009, Wilder ran for 1,004 yards and 15 touchdowns, while registering 136 tackles (66 solo) and 19quarterback sacks on defense. He was named the High School Junior of the Year byRivals.com, as well as2009USA Today All-American. Wilder was selected to play in the 2011U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[1]
Wilder attendedFlorida State University from 2011 to 2013. He selected Florida State over theUniversity of Florida and theUniversity of Georgia.[2] In 2012, Wilder had a breakout season, running for 635 rushing yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns. Wilder won Offensive MVP for the2012 ACC Championship Game. In 2013, Wilder averaged 7 yards per carry. Wilder was named All-ACC Honorable Mention.[3]
Wilder rushed for 1,363 yards with 20 rushing touchdowns during his career atFlorida State University. He entered the2014 NFL draft after his junior season.[4]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+5⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 232 lb (105 kg) | 32 in (0.81 m) | 9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | 4.65 s | 1.68 s | 2.68 s | 4.24 s | 6.92 s | 35 in (0.89 m) | 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) | 18 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine, 40-yard dash fromPro Day[5] | ||||||||||||
On May 12, 2014, Wilder was signed as an undrafted free agent by theCincinnati Bengals. On August 30, 2014, he was waived by the Bengals. He was signed to the Bengals' practice squad after clearing waivers. On January 14, 2015, Wilder signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals. On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Bengals.[6] On the following day, he was signed to the Bengals' practice squad.[7]
On January 20, 2016, Wilder signed a reserve/future contract with theBuffalo Bills.[8] On September 2, 2016, he was waived/injured by the Bills.[9] He was then placed on injured reserve. He was released by the Bills on September 27, 2016.
Wilder signed with theToronto Argonauts on March 14, 2017, reuniting head coachMarc Trestman with the family, as Trestman was a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant coach when Wilder's father was a running back on the team.[10] Following an injury to starting running backBrandon Whittaker, Wilder made his first professional start on July 24, 2017, against theOttawa Redblacks.[11] Wilder took over the starting running back role in September, earning consecutive player of week honors in weeks 13 and 14, gaining 257 and 218 yards from scrimmage in each game, respectively.[12] He amassed 872 yards and 5 touchdowns on 122 carries, as well as 467 yards on 51 catches, and was named theCFL's Most Outstanding Rookie on November 23, 2017. While largely contained in both playoff games the Argonauts played in, Wilder rushed for a touchdown in the final game of the year, helping Toronto secure aGrey Cup championship.
In late January 2018 Wilder announced that he was planning to sit out of theArgos' 2018 season in the hopes of pursuing a return to the NFL in 2019.[13] Wilder noted that his current contract of $56,000 (around US$45,000) in 2018, combined with the risk of career ending injury, does not give his family comfort about the future were he to play in 2018.[14] The Argonauts issued a statement in response to Wilder's comments, stating their expectations of him to fulfill his contractual agreement with the organization. Failure to report to the team in due course will likely result in him being placed on the team's suspended list for his decision as per his contractual commitments with the organization.[15] By February 27, 2018, the Argos had reportedly offered Wilder a contract extension which would make him one of the highest-paid running backs in the league.[16] On March 3, 2018, the Argos and Wilder agreed to a two-year contract extension, keeping him in Toronto through the2019 season.[17] The deal is reportedly worth $100,000 per year, with no signing bonus.[18] Wilder played in the first 13 games of the season for the Argos, before suffering a leg injury in Week 16.[19]
Wilder, who began the 2019 season as the Argos' starting running back, was listed as a healthy-scratch by the Argos during the team's August 16, 2019 loss to theEskimos: The loss pushed the Argos record to 1–7.[20] He finished the 2019 season playing in 14 games, rushing 92 times for 464 yards and one touchdown and catching 47 passes for 415 receiving yards and four touchdowns.[21] Prior to entering free agency, Wilder was released upon his request on November 25, 2019.[21]
On January 30, 2020, Wilder signed a one-year contract with theMontreal Alouettes.[22] It was a self-negotiated contract, reportedly for $90,000.[23] In late June 2020, at age 28, due to uncertainty over the2020 CFL season amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, he announced his retirement from playing before being able to play a game with Montreal; he had already received a $25,000 signing bonus from his contract.[24] He accepted a coaching position at his former high school in Tampa, Florida.[25]
On February 9, 2021, Wilder came out of retirement to sign a one-year contract with theEdmonton Elks.[26] Wilder played in 12 games for the Elks in 2021, serving as the team's starting running back carrying the ball 142 times for 770 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 226 yards and one receiving touchdown. On January 24, 2022, Wilder and the Elks agreed to a one-year contract extension.[27] Wilder played in only three games during the2022 season as his season was cut short by a neck injury which will require surgery in order to play professional football again.[28] On March 29, 2023, the Elks released Wilder.[29]
His fatherJames Wilder Sr. was an NFL running back for theTampa Bay Buccaneers.[30] In January 2014, James Wilder launched his clothing line, I Am Wilder Apparel.[31] Wilder Jr. and Wilder Sr. also announced that they would be opening and lending their names to a training facility in Tampa Bay, which helped prompt Wilder's initial retirement, stating, "I have a lot of tread on the tires, but it's a decision I have to make right now."[32]
Wilder has also participated in activism. He was a frequent protester in Houston duringBlack Lives Matter demonstrations following themurder ofGeorge Floyd.[33] Wilder also started the #RunWILDERForACure hashtag once he assumed the starting tailback role in 2017, challenging other CFL running backs to donate a dollar for every yard they gained and $100 for each touchdown they scored towards breast cancer research. Several NFL rushers also joined in the initiative.[34][35]He was previously the head football coach at Chamberlain High School in Tampa.
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